The fire is out: Rescue Me done in 2011

The boys of 62 Truck are finally calling it quits. According to TVGuide.com, Tommy, Lou, Franco and the rest of the Rescue Me crew have fought their last fire, polished the rig one final time, and will hang up their boots for good in 2011.

Details on how it'll end, who might be back, and a preview of this Tuesday's season five finale are after the jump.

As you may recall, FX announced that they were renewing Rescue Me for an 18 episode sixth season - almost three months before season five even premiered. Instead, FX has added one episode to that order, and much as they're doing with Nip/Tuck's final 19, Rescue Me will be split into two seasons set to air in 2010 and 2011.

That'll put Rescue Me's final ep count at 93 (making it more than suitable to sell into off network syndication), but more importantly, it creates one helluva promotional opportunity: the final season (and series finale) will now coincide with the tenth anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks, the creative impetus for the show.

Speaking of Kelly, the season five finale (which airs this Tuesday at 10PM ET on FX), features her heavily (I've already seen the ep - it's fantastic) and ends with what's arguably Rescue Me's best cliffhanger to date. This season in general has been seen as a creative resurgence of the show and while I'll be sad to see it go, it does feel as though season five was a bit of a peak. At this point, it makes sense to start wrapping up those big overarching plots, such as Tommy's guilt over Jimmy.

Here's a preview of the finale and like I said, I've seen it already, so be sure to check back here right after it airs for my review. Trust me - you're gonna want to talk about this one.

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I have never had the desire to or watched the show until this season. I was drawn by the appearance of Maura Tierney. I have watched every episode and admittedly have been sucked in by some of the characters. I have also been embarassed, insulted and strangley moved by some of the stories. Leary amazes me with his acting range. His on screem chemistry with Tierney is the best that I have seen so far. I hadn't planned to watch it ever again after her arc was complete but now.....

I didn't have cable or satellite until last year, so this season is the first chance I've had to see an entire season of this show within the actual time frame of the original airing. And I haven't seen the previous episodes on DVD, either, though. But I enjoy the show, very much.